Dust guard



H. C. GAMAGE.

DUST GUARD.

APPLICATION HLED 1AN.4, 1916.

Patented July 4, 1922.

WITNESSES.

UNITED STATES nanny c. GAMAGE, on NEW YORK, N. Y., nssrenon To B. r. commune compo TION or NEW JERSEY.

PATENT OFFLCE.

nosr GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1922.

Application and January 4, 1916. Serial No. 70,093.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. GAMAGE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of city, county, and State of New York, have ments in Dust Guards, of which the followin is a specification.

lhis invention relates to a dust guard adapted for use with journal boxes of car axles to prevent entrance of. dust therelnto, the present invention being an improvement or modification of the device disclosed in my Patent No. 1,015,551, issued Jan. 23, 1912. V

The dust guard disclosed in my above mentioned patent'consists of a single plate of resilient material having at its upper and lower edges laterally-projecting integral flanges whereby the guard is held in the dust guard chamber, the resiliency of the metal permitting the body of the plate to buckle,

particularly at the point where it is weakened by the opening for the axle.

I have found that, for certain uses, in order to provide the required resiliency in the dust guard described and shown 1n my patent, and prevent the plate from taking a permanent set when buckled, the same must be of a greater thickness or a higher grade of steel, or both, than would otherwise be necessary.

It has also been found desirable to provide a greater resiliency in certain portions of the plate than in others and also to provide for a certain movement of the guard in the box.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a dust guard so constructed that the 1 constructed according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof, the view being taken on the line 22 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section, on a reduced scale, showing the dust guard in position in a ournal box, the section through the dust guard being taken on the line 3-3. of Fig. 4. invented certain new and useful Improve- .These walls 3 and 4 have openings, 5 and 6,

respectively, through which the car axle 7 passes, these openings being of larger diameter than the axle.

The dust guard consists of a single piece or plate 10 of resilient material, such as steel, provided with an opening 11 through which the axle 7 passes, the metal of the plate being flared or rounded outwardly at this openmg to form an annular or circumferential flange 12 fitting fairly snugly on the axle. The extremity ofsuch flange may be flared backwardly from the axle, as at 12, to prevent the edge froin cutting the axle, or the buckling of the dust guard when the front end of journal box is raised, as in changing the bearings.

The upperportion of the plate 10 is bent at an angle to the body of the plate to form a straight flange 13 extending across the upper portion of the guard and closing the upper end of the chamber 2 between the walls 3 and 4, the extreme upper edge of the plate being preferably bent back again, as at 13', to constitute a marginal flange bearing on one wall of chamber 2. The flange 13 normally projects from the plate a distance greater than that between the walls 3 and 4, the springing of the flange to permit of insertion in the chamber 2 acting to hold the guard yieldingly in place by contact with the walls 3 and 4.

As shown more particularly in Fig. 4, the

ge of this semi-circular flange being.

The flange 15, projecting a less distance from the body of the plate than the flange 13, may fit comparatively loosely in the chamber 2, being pressed and held against one wall thereof by the action of flange 13,

this construction and arrangement tending to make the guard adhere more firmly at its upper end to the chamber walls than at its lower end.

Ribs 16, formed integrally with the body of the plate 10, by stamping or pressing outthe metal, are located adjacent to and parallel with each side of the plate on opposite sides of the axle opening and extend substantially from the point of mergence of the semi-circular flange 15 with the sides of the plate upwardly across the flange 13 to the upper edge of the plate.

It will be noted that the semi-circular lower end 15 provides both a bearing for the lower end of the guard and also, as the flange extends upwardly on each side of the plate and partially surrounds the opening for the I axle, serves to stiffen this portion of the body of the plate and increase the normal resistance to bucklin thereof while this stiffening is continued upwardly in a de creased degree by the ribs 16. These ribs are preferably so designed as to have less reinforcing power than the flange 15, so that the guard as here constructed will have its upper portion of Ogreater resiliency than its lower portion an the degree of resiliency decreases from the top to the bottom portions.

The rounded bottom permits of the plate swinging more freely from side to side when the axle moves transversely in the box (as when the brakes are applied) while the tendency of the guard to adhere to the walls of the chamber more firmly at top than at bottom permits the plate to swing, pendulum fashion, about its upper end, yet

, strongly resists shocks or forces tending to move it in a vertical direction. The 'importance of this combination cannot be over estimated because it overcomes inherent and fundamental defects in other inventions of dust guards, which inventions lacking this property inevitably fail in actual railroad service.

The reverse curve on the flange 15 ermits the bottom of the guard to slide free y upon the wall of the chamber. The guard may be reversed in position in the chamber from that shown, if desired.

What I claim is:

1. A dust guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single resilient plateprovided with an opening for the car axle and having -in tegral flanges at its upper and lower edges, the flange at its upper edge being straight and its lower edge being of semi-circular out-.

line and bent awpay fromthe body of the plate to constitute a flange, extending around said semi-circular lower edge.

'2. A dust guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single resilient plate provided with an opening for the car axle and having integral flanges at its upper and lower edges, the flange at its upper edge being straight and its lower edge being of semi-circular outline and bent away from the body of the plate to constitute a flange extending around said semi-circular lower edge. the extreme edge of said last named flange being bent slightly backward toward the body of the plate.

3. A dust guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single resilient plate provided with an opening for the car axle and having integral flanges at its upper and lower edges, the flange at its upper edge being straight and its lower edge being of semi-circular outline and bent away from the body of the plate to constitute a flange extending around said semi-circular lower edge and bending away from the plate in a gradual curve reversing at its extreme edge.

4. A dust guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single resilient plate provided with an opening for the car axle and having an integrally formed straight flange at its upper end and having at its lower end an integrally formed flange of semi-circular outline partially surrounding said opening.

5. A dust guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single piece of resilient metal pro- "vided with an opening for the car axle and extending around said lower edge, said plate also having integral ribs formed therein and extending upwardly near the sides thereof.

7. A dust guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single resilient plate provided with an opening for the car axle and having at its upper end a lateral flange and its lower edge of semi-circular outline and bent away from the body of the plate to constitute a flange extending around said lower edge, said plate also having integral ribs formed therein and extending upwardly near the sides thereof from a point adjacent the ends of said semi-circular flange to a point adjacent the upper end of the plate.

. 8. 'A dust'guard for car axle boxes consisting of a single resilient plate pro ided I with an opening for the car axle and. a

lateral flange at its upper end and having integral flanges extending across the upper and lower edges of said plate adapted to cause a buckling action thereof when said guard is placed in position in the car axle box, whereby the same is held in position therein, the flange on the lower edge of said plate being extended partly up the sides of the latter to partially surround the said opening.

Signed at Bainbridge, Georgia, this day of December, 1915.

HARRY C. GAMAGE.

27th I 

